Kids Moved Out? Get The Most Out of Their Old Rooms – Part Two!

Seriously, you don’t need to be a cabinetmaker to build a murphy bed. I bought the hardware kit from Lee Valley in Maine after getting a referral from a friend. When I received the boxes in the mail, I found everything I needed to build the mechanical part of the bed laid out in neat packaging, 2 packets of instructions, and a DVD. At first, it was a little daunting to see 2 instructional booklets, but then I watched the DVD from START to FINISH so I understood conceptually how it was going to come together. I’m a visual and kinesthetic learner so it made sense to me and this was a LIFE SAVER!

 

Lee Valley makes it easy to determine how much wood you need. I laid out a cut sheet to make the best use of each sheet of plywood because that was going to be the biggest cost factor. They actually tell you the exact measurements for each cut of wood. This is great as long as you don’t change the plans, which of course, I did. I wanted to add 5 horizontal shelves that go directly above the headboard inside the murphy bed frame, not additional shelves outside – outside would have been much easier. So I had to add 6″ to the depth of the entire bed and all of the pieces that were affected by this change. Needless to say, I was a regular at the lumberyard as I was down there every day for 5 days getting things cut and (yup) re-cut. But it was worth all the headaches because the shelves are the best part of the beds — and none of the custom designs had them! 

 

I was so excited to start the project that I was up and ready at the lumber yard before they opened the next morning. I spent a few hours there having the plywood pieces cut. 

Forget big box stores because they’ll only cut your wood to rough measurements — and you want your cuts to be within a 1/16″.  That means you’ll need cabinet cuts with a good carbide-tipped blade that most good independent lumberyards will provide for you. They charge about a dollar a cut, which is really great for me because I don’t have a table saw and they’re much better at precision cuts than I am. 

 

The best part about being at the lumber yard was that I got great advice from EVERYONE. They’re all skilled and experienced so when I showed them my drawings, they were intrigued and offered great recommendations. One guy even built a mock-up to show me how to install the really unique hinges in the kit:

 

They helped me pick drill bits to cut the holes for the mechanisms, and even told me where to buy some items cheaper at other stores! When I got back from the lumberyard, I just laid out the pieces and put them together with a screw gun and my friend the nail gun.

 

It seemed like it took more time to iron on the veneer than it did to assemble the whole bed. After the veneer was placed on all the plywood edges, screwing the pieces together was easy to do. I did all of this in my garage, and then carried the pieces up to the bedrooms. In the bedrooms, I attached the piston mechanism per the instructions, which was surprisingly simple to do. Once they were in place, we pushed the murphy bed against the wall and anchored it to a stud. 

 

Next, I placed an old mattress on the bed and added a memory-foam topper for comfort. With the topper, it doesn’t matter what shape the mattress is in — everything is so soft! YOU NEED THE WEIGHT OF THE MATTRESS for the pistons to work effectively. Like a child in awe, I was mesmerized by the smoothness and ease that the mattress lowered to the floor. It was like magic!

 

Even though I was exhausted after assembling the beds, I placed every knick knack on the shelves and lay in the bed admiring them. I can’t wait for the girls to come home to see their individual murphy beds with all of their mementos. And now I can close up the murphy bed and start my art projects! 

 

Moral of the story: If you’re an empty nester, build a murphy bed in your extra room! 

 

Send photos and let me know how it goes in the comments!